#52 Can You Really Learn Music Online? Debunking the Myths of Virtual Music Education with Caleb Smith

🎵 Can Music Be Taught Effectively Online? Exploring Distance Learning in the Arts

Pain Point: Many believe that subjects like music require in-person instruction to be truly effective. Can students really learn to play an instrument, develop musicality, and experience meaningful arts education online?

Solution: In this episode, Why Distance Learning? hosts welcome Caleb Smith, a professional musician and experienced online music educator. Caleb shares how virtual learning is breaking barriers, making music education accessible to students in remote communities, and fostering creativity in ways traditional classrooms cannot. He explains how online instruction differs from in-person teaching, how technology enhances musical immersion, and why local educators are key partners in virtual music programs.

Key Takeaways:

🎸 Access Over Geography: Online music education connects students in isolated communities with world-class instruction.

🎼 Beyond the Notes: Music education online isn’t just about technique—it’s about inspiration, creativity, and cultural exchange.

📡 Technology as an Enabler: Innovations like OBS Studio, hybrid models, and latency-free platforms (like Gig Room) are redefining online music learning.

🤝 Empowering Educators: Effective online instruction isn’t just about students—it also supports local teachers in refining their craft.

🌎 Cultural Connection: Virtual learning expands students’ exposure to musical traditions, instruments, and styles from around the world.

Action: Listen now to learn how distance learning is transforming music education and what educators can do to optimize virtual arts instruction.

🎧 Episode Links:

 • Learn more about Caleb Smith’s work in online music education

 • Explore Gig Room, a low-latency solution for virtual music collaboration

 • Read about how OBS Studio enhances online music instruction

📌 Host Links:

1️⃣ Discover more virtual learning opportunities and resources at CILC.org with Tami Moehring and Allyson Mitchell

2️⃣ Seth Fleischauer’s Banyan Global Learning provides meaningful global learning experiences that prepare students across the globe for success in an interconnected world.

🎙️ If you found this episode valuable, please rate, review, and share Why Distance Learning? with your network!

Creators and Guests

Host

Allyson Mitchell

SF

Host

Seth Fleischauer

TM

Host

Tami Moehring

What is Why Distance Learning??

Why Distance Learning? is a podcast about the decisions, design choices, and assumptions that determine whether live virtual learning becomes shallow and transactional—or meaningful, relational, and effective at scale.

The show is designed for education leaders, instructional designers, and system-level practitioners responsible for adopting, scaling, and sustaining virtual, hybrid, and online learning models. Each episode examines the structural conditions under which distance learning actually works—and the predictable reasons it fails when it doesn’t.

Through conversations with researchers, experienced practitioners, and field-shaping leaders, Why Distance Learning? translates research, field evidence, and lived experience into decision-relevant insight. Episodes surface real tradeoffs, near-failures, and hard-won lessons, equipping listeners with clear framing and language they can use to explain, defend, or redesign distance learning models in real organizational contexts.

Hosted by Seth Fleischauer of Banyan Global Learning, and Allyson Mitchell and Tami Moehring of the Center for Interactive Learning and Collaboration, the podcast challenges outdated narratives about distance learning and explores what becomes possible when live virtual education is designed intentionally, human-centered, and grounded in evidence.